Folklore has provided novelists with endless inspiration. Here are five books selected by LA MacRae that have roots in the stories of yore.
The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
A childhood favourite that has stayed with me. Set on a remote hill farm in Wales, this is the first book in a trilogy of extraordinary children’s stories of grief, mystery and magic which draws heavily on Welsh folklore.
Fair Helen by Andrew Greig
A wonderful novel based on the Scottish ballad Fair Helen of Kirkconnel, which relates the tragic outcome of a doomed love triangle. Set between Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders in the late 16th century, Greig conjures a hugely suspenseful tale of love, bitter feuds and political intrigue.
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Written by Oyeyemi at the age of only 18, this is a lovely, unsettling and quietly heartbreaking book inspired by the Yoruba myth of abiku, spirit children.
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Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
A Victorian detective tale whose protagonist Bridie Devine is tasked with investigating the disappearance of a six-year-old girl. Wildly imaginative writing which draws, among other things, on the Irish legend of the merrow, or mermaid.
Folksongs and Folklore of South Uist by Margaret Fay Shaw
In 1929, Shaw arrived in the island of South Uist from New York as a girl in her twenties. She would spend the next six years lodging with sisters Pèigi and Màiri MacRae, taking photographs, documenting local customs and collecting Gaelic songs. This book is beautiful, elegiac and evocative.
